Map Memory Box

I’ve mentioned this before, and you will hear about it again because it’s the BIG THING in our house right now: our only daughter (and oldest child) is leaving home in September to go away to college. Fortunately for us, “away” is only a couple of hours from here, but the thought of not hearing her bounce through the house every day is still heavy.

Before I break down (again), I want to show you what I made for her as a graduation gift. It’s a box to keep in her dorm room where she can put a few things that remind her of home. I told her she would probably pull it out a few times in the beginning, but by the end of the year she’d find it covered in dust under her bed.

I found the box at my local craft store. It was a very un-dorm-friendly white, so I painted it yellow, her favorite color.

I had a couple of Oregon maps I carried in my car until a couple of years ago. My husband got worried enough about my complete lack of directional sense that he bought me a car with GPS. Anyway, I didn’t want to cover the entire box, just frame a piece of the map on top, so I cut a template from a piece of white paper to use to cut the map.

I spread a little Mod Podge under the map to attach it to the box, added two little pink hearts to mark where home and school are, then gave it a couple of good coats to the entire outside.

The handle was paper-covered also, so I cut a bit of the map and Mod Podged it as well.

With the outside done, I moved on to the inside. It was a little more slick than the outside, so I opted to leave it unpainted. I did want something fun inside the lid though, so a printed out a little advice for her. Rather attaching it with regular glue, I used this baby. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend it. It spreads glue dots, holds permanently, and no drying time.

I attached some printed scrapbook paper first, added the words I printed, then covered the edge with ribbon, glued on the same way.

Filling the box was pretty easy. By the time her dad, brother and I were through, it was tough to close. Some of the goodies inside include her favorite candies, Goldfish crackers, a travel tea mug, hand sanitizer, her first pieces of Fiestaware, a couple of Hot Wheels cars from her brother’s private collection and a screwdriver, courtesy of her dad.

My favorite thing is the pink hearts on top, showing where she’s from and where she’s going.

An old luggage lock just happened to be a perfect fit.

Buried somewhere in that box is a package of kleenex. I have a feeling those will be mine.

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